Auto-injectors for self-administration of liquid drugs such as insulin typically employ so-called carpules or cartridges including an open ended tube hermetically sealed by a rubber septum at a leading cartridge end and a slidable seal at an opposite trailing cartridge end. Cartridges can contain a single liquid drug dosage or a multiple liquid drug dosage. Home users are typically supplied with cartridges pre-filled with a liquid drug dosage but may be supplied with empty cartridges requiring a manual cartridge filling procedure for filling with a liquid drug dosage. The manual cartridge filling procedure includes the following steps: A user prepares a syringe with a liquid drug dosage, mounts a needle on the syringe, punctures the cartridge's rubber septum and injects the liquid drug dosage into the cartridge. The user may have an additional step of reconstituting a liquid drug dosage from a powdered medicament.
Commonly owned PCT International Application No. PCT/IL2007/000343 entitled Fluid Transfer Devices for Use with Cartridges and published under PCT International Publication No. WO 2007/105221 discloses fluid transfer devices discussed hereinbelow for use with needleless syringes and cartridges for assisting a manual cartridge filling procedure.
Commonly owned PCT International Application No. PCT/IL2010/000530 entitled Fluid Transfer Devices for Filling a Cartridge with Liquid Drug Dosage and published under PCT International Publication No. WO 2011/004360 discloses fluid transfer devices discussed hereinbelow for use with cartridges and vials for assisting a manual cartridge filling procedure. WO 2011/004360 discloses provisioning otherwise conventional cartridges including a slidable seal with a releasable attachment arrangement and a manual push rod for releasable attachment to the slidable seal for enabling manual displacement of same for injection and aspiration purposes. Suitable releasable attachment arrangements include inter alia a screw thread arrangement, and the like.
There is a need for fluid transfer devices for facilitating a manual cartridge filling procedure for filling a cartridge with a liquid drug dosage and manual sliding ejection of the filled cartridge for subsequent deployment in an auto-injector.